The Torah draws to its close with V'zot Habracha,
which is the only Parsha in the Torah not read specifically on
a Shabbat. Rather, V'zot Habracha is read on Simchat Torah, when everyone in the synagogue gets
called up to the Torah for an aliyah - even boys who are
not yet Bar Mitzvah. The Parsha is repeated until everyone has
received an aliyah.

Moshe continues the tradition of Yaakov by blessing
the Tribes of Yisrael before his death. Similar to the blessings
bestowed by Yaakov, these blessings are also a combination of
the description of each Tribe's essence, together with a definition
of its role within the nation of Israel. The only Tribe that
does not receive a blessing is Shimon, because they were central
to the mass immorality of worshipping the idol ba'al pe'or.
Another explanation is that this Tribe's population was small
and scattered throughout the south of the Land of Israel, and
would therefore receive blessings together with the host Tribe
amongst whom they would live; i.e., Yehuda. Moshe's last words
to his beloved people are of reassurance that Hashem will more
than recompense His people for all of the suffering they will
endure. Moshe ascends the mountain and Hashem shows him prophetically
all that will happen to Eretz Yisrael in the future, both
in tranquillity and in times of oppression. Hashem also shows
him all that will happen to the Jewish People until the time of
the Resurrection. Moshe dies there by means of the "Divine
Kiss." To this day, no one knows the place of his burial,
in order that his grave should not become a shrine for those who
wish to make a prophet into a god. Of all the prophets, Moshe
was unique in his being able to speak to Hashem whenever he wanted.
His centrality and stature are not a product of the Jewish People's
"blind faith," but are based on events that were witnessed
by an entire nation - at the Red Sea, at Mount Sinai and constantly
during 40 years of journeying through the desert.

"So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there,
in the land of Moav, opposite Bet Peor, and no one knows his burial
place to this day." (31:4)

Many years ago, there was a small Jewish community
somewhere in Poland which had very little to recommend it. Its
people were not scholars nor interested in being so. It was a
backwater of a backwater. Nothing ever happened there, nor was
likely to. It happened that the position of rabbi fell vacant
in this town. The president of the synagogue advertised in the
newspaper in Lublin "dynamic rabbi needed for important town."
Not long afterwards, a young enthusiastic rabbi who had just
received his semicha (rabbinical ordination) came for an
interview. After looking around the town he was rather disappointed.
He mentioned to the president that it didn't seem that much could
be done in this town. Nobody seemed to be interested in studying
the Torah. He implied that this wasn't really a very important
town. The president said to him "What do you mean, this
isn't an important town? Do you realize who is buried here?"

"No. Who?"

"The Rambam is buried in this town! Rashi
is buried in this town!"

When faced with the possibility of having such illustrious
antecedents, the rabbi started to look at the position in a new
light. "Okay." He said. "I'll take it."

Some months later, the rabbi was passing by the
town's graveyard. On the spot, he decided to pay a visit to the
graves of the Rambam and Rashi. The graveyard was not a big place.
After half an hour of searching, he was convinced neither the
Rambam nor Rashi were present amongst those who rested there.
And then he thought to himself "Hang on a minute! The
Rambam is buried in Teveria in Eretz Yisrael! Rashi's
buried somewhere in France!"

Livid, he demanded to see the president of the synagogue.
"You lied to me!" he said, his face quivering from
betrayal. "You said that the Rambam is buried in this town;
that Rashi is buried in this town. That's not true! The Rambam
is buried in Teveria." "No, he isn't." replied
the president calmly. "He's buried here." "But
that's simply not true!" replied the rabbi.

The president explained himself. "The Rambam
isn't buried in Teveria, because in Teveria everyone studies him.
The Rambam is buried in this town because here nobody
learns him. Rashi is buried in this town because here
nobody learns him. I was hoping that you could 'resurrect' them."

"So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there,
in the land of Moav, opposite Bet Peor, and no one knows his burial
place to this day."

If the Torah specifies that Moshe died "there
in the land of Moav, opposite Bet Peor," how can it immediately
say that "no one knows his burial place?"

The righteous are "alive" even when they
are dead. It's true that Moshe's body died "in the land
of Moav opposite Bet Peor." However, "no one
knows his burial place" because everywhere that Jews study
Torah, Moshe is alive and well in the land of the living.

Haftarah Simchat Torah

Yehoshua 1:1

Immediately when we finish reading the Torah, we
start again "In the beginning of God's creating the heavens
and the earth..." In this way we remind ourselves that immersing
ourselves in the truths of the Torah is an eternal task, without
beginning or end. The Haftorah states "And Hashem spoke
to Yehoshua bin Nun, Moshe's lieutenant, saying 'Moshe my servant
is dead. You arise and cross over the Jordan...'" to
remind us that the work of the Torah is not that of a human being,
not even the highest, but it is Hashem's work that began with
the revelation at Sinai, and its accomplishment is not dependent
on the personality and life of any man, however great and sublime
he may be.

Adapted from Dr. Mendel Hirsch, based on the words
of his father, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch